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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
World
Paul Myers

Sudan's rival factions extend ceasefire for 72 hours as thousands flee fighting

Humanitarian aid arrived in Sudan as the warring rival factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire. via REUTERS - ICRC

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Sunday both confirmed the extension of a three-day truce for 72 hours. The army said the extension came due to US and Saudi mediation.

The previous ceasefire - which was widely breached by both sides - was scheduled to expire at midnight on Sunday just over two weeks after clashes broke out between supporters of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

More than 500 people have been killed and 5,000 wounded, according to the Sudan health ministry, and tens of thousands of people forced to leave their homes for safer locations within the country or abroad.

On Sunday in the capital Khartoum, warplanes circled as fighting continued on the streets.

Sudanese police said officers from the Central Reserve Police were being deployed across Khartoum to protect citizens' properties from looting.

Police officials said the paramilitary unit had arrested 316 "rebels" - a reference to the RSF, which did not confirm the information.

With residential buildings damaged in the fighting, food running short and daily life increasingly difficult, foreign nations have continued to evacuate their citizens as humanitarian agencies fly in supplies for the millions who cannot flee.

A first Red Cross plane arrived on Sunday at Port Sudan from Jordan with eight tonnes of humanitarian aid including surgical material and medical kits for around 1,500 patients.

Warning

Sudan's former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok warned on Saturday against the conflict deteriorating into civil war.

"God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war proper ... Syria, Yemen, Libya will be a small play," Hamdok told an event in Nairobi. "I think it would be a nightmare for the world."

The UN World Food Programme said it feared that the unrest could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where 15 million people need aid to stave off famine.

"The situation cannot be sustained as medical supplies run short," said Majzoub Saad Ibrahim, a doctor in Ad Damar, north of Khartoum.

"This war is ominous and we hope it stops," he told AFPTV.

The latest three-day ceasefire was agreed after mediation led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the United Nations.

On Sunday in Riyadh, an envoy of Burhan's met the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who called for the restoration of calm in Sudan, his ministry said.

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